Thought I would share it with you, it is a great way to start a sunday.  {watch the little girl sing, she just melts your heart with her expressions}

**I really don’t know how to make it play on my blog, but here is the link on my Pinterest so you can watch it.  Or go to this link directly on YouTube

Home…oh this is so sweet is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

My idea was to make a flash card style invite.  I found the perfect vintage picture for the front of the card which got the ball rolling on the rest of the design.  Which was my first problem.  I am no graphic designer, and pulling graphics and text together seamlessly is not as easy as it looks.  I seriously must of made 20 different styles, colors and fonts before I settle on the final style.

The front looks like this {they have already picked out the baby’s name}

The backside was the most difficult side.  Getting your important facts on there without making it look like a bunch of text on a page  is hard.  Not to mention that there are so many fonts to choose from, finding the right one was overwhelming.

I think it looks vintage and similar to a flash card.  Spending 26 hours on the design and layout, not so good.

The theme of the shower is book-themed.  Shannon is a teacher and loves books.  So as you can read on the invite, I suggested to bring a children’s book in lieu of a card.   I enclosed a book plate I made to stick inside the book.  This task was probably the easiest, I printed my design out on 8 1/2″  x 11 ” label paper and then cut them to size.

Now on to the envelope.  A while back I had ordered a shirt from Anthropologie.  When I got my package in the mail, they had put my receipt into the cutest white paper envelope that was sewn together.  I even saved it because I thought it was so genius.

{you can tell I have had it for awhile.  It is looking rather tattered and the string is missing for the clasp}

I thought it would be cute to sew the envelope for the invite just like Anthro did but use writing paper instead. Well, that turned out to be a challenge.  I first bought some kids writing paper at the dollar store and the size was all wrong.  Luckily, my daughter Tiffany, who is creative and a whiz on the computer, created me the perfect writing paper.  She even found a cursive font to match and typed in all the addresses! I I had to do was print the paper and fold.  That was a life saver.

Then it was time to sew.  Stupid me, I decided to use card stock for the inside lining.  Big mistake.  I should of gone with what Anthro did and used regular weight paper. Much easier to work with and less bulky.  I couldn’t find the right color in regular size paper, so I bought 12 x 12 scrap booking paper.  Luckily, Shannon came over and offered to  cut the paper to size for me.  Another life saver.

Enter my basic, I don’t know how it works, sewing machine.  It decided to have an issue with the bobbin and needless to say, what should of taken me an hour took me four hours! I kept having to re-thread the bobbin every time I stopped a stitch.  UGH! Nice words were not being said when I was sewing these to say the least.

Honestly, I was attempting a zig zag pattern, kind of looks like a zig zag. {this is a mock up envelope, didn’t think it would be a good idea to post real addresses for the WWW to see}

You can kind of see where my bobbin was messing up on the side seam, but oh well right?  I just had to give in and let them be what they were.  I had to do 50 of them, and they never would of been mailed out if I focused on that and tried to make them perfect.

I ended up using glue tape to close the darn thing.  I even went to the post office to make sure it was up to their standards for mailing.  I don’t know how well they are going to hold up going through the post office, hopefully everyone will get it in one piece.

Overall I am ok with how they turned out.  So glad they are done and that I stuck with it.  But lesson learned, never again will I attempt to make 50 invitations and envelopes.  Being an over achiever is over rated, I must stop.   I will leave the card making to the experts and buy them next time.

On a side note.  I had forgotten to post about my wonderful Mother’s day, so I will leave you with some pictures of me and my girls from our day.

Me and my youngest daughter Tiffany

Tiffany, pregnant Shannon and me

All three of my beauties, Tara, Shannon and Tiffany.

Then here we are walking to our car from brunch, and Tara is being silly behind the camera telling her sisters to act like she is the paparazzi, so the girls are all posing for her and then..

here is me yelling at Tara.   She was walking backwards snapping her paparazzi pictures,  telling the girls to pose like this and like that, really getting into the moment.  But little did she know, there was a golf cart right behind her full of people that she was about to walk into!  I had to yell at her to stop before she fell over backwards into the golf cart.  It was fun, and made for a good laugh.

I couldn’t ask for better daughters, they treated me like a queen on Mother’s day.

Linking up for these fun parties

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/ {her button isn’t working}

Over Achiever Baby Shower Invite is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I have had a lot of nervous energy this week, and needed to find an outlet to calm my nerves.  And that is when I realized that it was my home that I found the most solace, to calm my nerves.

Most people who know me, know I am all about details in design work, almost to a fault.  A room to me isn’t complete unless it has depth.  Layers of fabrics and textures, furnishings with unique finishes, and unique wall treatments .  I mix the old with the new, the custom with the everyday.

But sometimes I get too busy with life and forget to admire all the hard work and details I have poured into our home.

It was 2 1/2 years of long, hard days and a boat load of design work when we re-built our home after it burned down in 2003.   All I could remember thinking during that transition time was that I just wanted to go home.  It just seemed we couldn’t get the house re-built fast enough to get home.   So in my nervous fits last week I found myself randomly staring.  Staring at the details of what I love about my home.  It brought a smile and calm when I saw things like this

The reflection of an old candelabra sitting on my piano

The hand applied crackle finish and gold leaf on this vanity front

My first ever DIY gold leaf mirror that lays against upholstered walls

The acanthus leaf moulding that wraps around the ceilings

The depth of the hand applied silver leaf finish on the stairs

The finish and the detail of the stair shoe molding

Little vignettes of things I have collected

Stepping into this shower and looking up

And remembering how I asked the most talented artist to hand paint the white ceiling for me to match the wallpaper.  These are the things that calm my nerves.  Being home.

Photo’s taken by True Photography for Crea8tive Design Inc.

Linking to these wonderful parties

Solace in my home is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I also want to thank some wonderful bloggers that have featured some of my posts

Brittany at Loved Stitched featured my daughter’s kitchen renovation here.  Check out her blog, she is giving away the CUTEST necklace, and you get to see how darn cute she is modeling it.

Reichel from CopyCatChic posted my find on a beautiful rug for less here She just had the most adorable baby


Jami from Freckled Laundry featured my number pillows here Oh and have you seen her Etsy shop?  I purchased the most beautiful tags from her shop that I put on my newly painted hutch in the guest house

She was so sweet to also include some extra tags as congratulations on becoming a grandma.  Can’t wait to use them in the baby’s room

Amy at Mod Podge Rocks! posted my damask Mod Podge coffee table on her Facebook page.  I just love Amy’s site, she is so real and has the cutest sense of humor.

I have been doing some retail therapy the last couple of weeks.  Here is a sneak peak on some items I got for my office

Two Blanc De Chine Hollywood Regency Neoclassic lamps I purchased on ebay (no shades though, now I am on the hunt for the perfect shade)

New pillows I picked up in Newport Beach at a store called American Rag

And this awesome knock off Dorothy Draper Chest I found at an estate sale.  Can’t wait to show you the whole room when it is finished.

Thank You is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

About two weeks ago, Nancy Drew took the time to email me and ask if I had help when I  did my pantry revamp.  Uh, NO!  It was just me, myself and I.  She had noticed my pictures on someone else’s facebook and recognized them from my blog.  She thought it was odd that I had not given any indication in my original post that I had help when I blogged about it.  She also noticed there were pictures of a bathroom she had seen on another blog. Nancy Drew thought it was weird how this one woman could do all this work and know all these people at the same time.  It set off a red flag in her mind, and she acted on it.    I know it was awkward for her to email me, but she just kind of had this feeling.  And boy am I ever glad she did!  No, I did not know this person.  This is what I saw when I went to this woman’s facebook link

Seriously?  Even my dog food bin? Not only did she steal all my pictures, she took my content that went with it, word for word!  At the end she adds in her own sentence “Our client was thrilled and so was her family!”  Wow, she has even created a client for my pantry.  {The funny thing is, the first thing that came to mind when I saw this was, dang, out of all my designs, she takes the pantry?  I do better work than that!}  But I was mad, how dare she?  And to top it off, she was promoting this for her business.  To get clients by showcasing my work as her own.

As it turns out, my work was not the only work she copied and plagiarized as her own and put up on her facebook page.  Nancy recognized some of them and emailed the other bloggers to notify them of the plagiarism going on.  You GO GIRL!

I decided that night not to do send a seething email like I SO wanted to.  I wanted to be smart about it, and decided to sleep on it.  I wanted to get a plan together and research how to  handle plagiarism and what  legal steps I should take.  So the next morning I went on this woman’s facebook page to do some more checking, and then I was REALLY mad!

See the last post?  That is the a picture of  the chandelier I bought showing it in my daughter Shannon’s house that I blogged about on my blog!

Once again, she copied my content word for word and then inserted her own sentence at the end.  “We shop for designer looks at an affordable price!”  Promoting her business by stealing and using my work to get clients.  Now I was furious, and creeped out,  I felt like I had been violated.

Then I got another email from Nancy Drew, who through her extensive research contacted 8  different bloggers that had their work plagiarized on this woman’s facebook page.  They of course were as angry as I was and they acted on it right away and contacted Facebook.  Facebook has now taken her page down, thank goodness.

The whole plagiarism thing has really given me a wake up call.  I never have taken the time to water mark any of my pictures, but now I know it is a must.  I am even going to go back to my old posts and do the daunting task of watermarking every single picture I have ever posted.

I was seriously debating as to whether to call it quits and not blog any longer.  I was sad and heart broken after this happened.  It just burst my bubble, leaving me feeling like I got punched in the stomach. Kind of took the fun out of it all,  you know what I mean?    But my family and friends rallied around me and have encouraged me to continue on.  {On a side note, I must say, my husband was the biggest supporter during all of this. Giving me daily pep talks to not let this person win and to continue blogging.  Which is funny since he has never read one of my posts! LOL  But he knows how I talk about it all the time and sees that it makes me happy}  They all know how much I love sharing ideas and projects through my blog and how I value the wonderful friends I have made in the blog world.

So I am taking baby steps in moving forward, publishing this post was hard for me. I didn’t want to be too emotionally charged in my writing  but yet I wanted to let other bloggers know of my situation.   It’s funny, we lock the doors in our cars and home for security,  shouldn’t we take the precautions to lock our blogs too?   No matter what size your blog is, copying and stealing can happen, we just need  to make it harder for someone to do it.  There is a lot of controversy in blog land as to whether to watermark your pictures,  it is a personal decision.  But after experiencing plagiarism first hand, I feel it is a wise decision and a small inconvenience for peace of mind. Putting a disclosure on your site that states the content belongs to you and it can not be copied is also a good idea.  I have also learned that there are sites that you can sign up for that will scour the net and let you know if your content has been used any where else.  I haven’t done much research on this, but it is something I am seriously thinking about.  To me, it is another layer of protection. I would love to hear if someone has a site to recommend for this.

But out of this whole mess there is something to celebrate.  Bloggers like Nancy Drew.  I have never met Nancy Drew, but she had my back. And the amazing thing is that she didn’t even really know me, how cool is that?  99% of us bloggers out there are good honest people, and we would do the same thing that Nancy did if we were put in her situation.  I am certain of that, and that is what keeps me going.

Jen of Madebygirl’s artwork really sums it up for me…(picture via Etsy Jenniferramos)

Bloggers, we have each others backs is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I have the luxury of not having to go to a real gym. So you see,  I REALLY don’t have an excuse not to exercise.  I walk past these doors at least 10 times a day.  They are right outside my master bedroom. But the doors are always closed, and I added the woven blinds for privacy,  so I never see the motivation behind these doors.

I used to work out in here 3 times a week religiously.  I absolutely loved every minute of it.  I picked out every single pieces of equipment in this room that targeted what I wanted out of a workout.

It is my dream exercise room.  And I am going to fall in love with it all over again.  I turned 49 yesterday, and that motivated me to get my tired, saggy and out of shape body  back on track.  I hate the way my body looks.  I guess I am not fat, but since my lack of exercise, my body has changed (oh the age thing doesn’t help) it seems to of gone south and flabby big time.

I guess a birthday was what I needed to get me going back through those doors.  Sharing this room with you was another way to motivate me, any one of you who reads this will certainly agree, I have no excuses.  Feel free to tell me so!  I need the motivation.

No Excuses is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Etsyonsale.com

This is so perfect for me because I love handmade anything and I especially love giving them as gifts.  And now Etsy has a sale page!  Even more awesome.   As a crafter and a DIYer I truly appreciate the time and creativity that goes into making something handmade. I don’t have the talent to do all crafts, ok, who am I kidding, my craft skills are limited, but I like to think I have many.  As I was browsing this new found shopping haven, I thought I would share a couple of cute affordable gifts under $15 that caught my eye (I have no affiliation with any of these sellers I just thought their stuff was cute)

Little girls zippered coin purse $6

For the dog lovers on your list (I might be buying one of these for Daisy)  Dog Fleece Winter Coat $12

Make it official! Man Cave Sign $7.61

Great stocking stuffer Watermelon Hair Clips $2.85

I could sit here all day showing you pretty things I found!  But I can’t cause I have to do my own shopping.  So, go check it out, I am sure you can find something for some one on your list.

Etsy on Sale is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Best Money I Ever Spent is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.